The Language Creator
– from linguistic questionnaire to grammar, lexicon and texts.

A Grammar of Loewa

Introduction

Scope and Purpose

This grammar provides a systematic description of the Loewa language (the 178th one produced by the Language Creator), outlining its sound system, word formation and syntactic structure, with the aim of presenting a coherent account of the language as an integrated whole. Attention has been paid to both regular patterns and minor irregularities, as these together define the internal balance of the language.

The grammar is accompanied by a bilingual dictionary and a collection of illustrative texts, offering material for further study and comparison. The examples have been selected to demonstrate typical constructions and to give a sense of the language in extended use. The description is intended as a reference work for linguists and language enthusiasts alike, and as a foundation for any future research, teaching or creative adaptation of Loewa.

Typological Profile

It has has no interesting typological features.

Phonology

Phoneme Inventory

Consonants

Loewa has a large consonant inventory, comprising 39 phonemes.

It has an extensive and fully contrastive palatal series, an exceptionally dense sibilant inventory, a maximally contrastive voicing system and a modest (but clearly contrastive) set of labialised consonants.

The table below presents the full inventory of consonant phonemes in Loewa. The chart lists all places and manners of articulation attested in the language.

vel. labialpal. labialvel. alveolarpal. alveolarpostalveolarvel. postalveolarpal. postalveolarvel. lateralpal. lateralpalatalvel. velarpal. velarlab. velarglottal
stoppˠ bˠ pʲ bʲ dˠ tˠ dʲ tʲ kˠ ɡˠ kʲ ɡʲ kʷ ɡʷ
nasalmˠ mʲ nˠ nʲ ŋˠ ŋʲ ŋʷ
fricativefˠ fʲ sˠ zˠ sʲ zʲ ʃˠ ʒˠ ʃʲ ʒʲ h
approximantwˠ wʲ lˠ lʲ j
affricatet͡ʃ

Vowels

Loewa has 14 vowel qualities, representing a highly complex vocalic system. The chart below displays the full set of contrasts employed in the language.

It has a strongly reduced vowel system in unstressed syllables, a partially contrastive system of vowel length, a maximally “square” vowel system balancing heights across backness, front rounded vowels (these are cross-linguistically relatively uncommon, but occur in a number of well-known languages, including French, German, Turkish and Mandarin) and an unusually fine-grained height system distinguishing four levels.

The table below presents the full inventory of vowel phonemes in Loewa. The system comprises the distinct vowel qualities listed in the chart.

front unroundedfront roundedback unroundedback
closei y u
close-mide ø o
open-midɛ œ ɔ
openæ ɑ

Stress and Tones

Loewa has neither phonemic stress nor lexical tone. Prosodic prominence and pitch variation are determined by pragmatic and discourse factors rather than by lexical contrasts.

Phonological Processes

Vowel Harmony

Vowel harmony does not exist in this language.

Writing System

Introduction

Loewa is an unwritten language. For that reason, all examples in this grammar are given exclusively in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), which offers a precise and widely recognised means of recording its sounds.

Orthography

Loewais an unwritten language, so it does not make any sense to discuss its orthography.

Word Classes and Morphology

Number and Gender

Number

Loewa does not have grammatical number.

Gender

Loewa has the following genders:

Gender anim – for instance: dˠuː ‘bird’, dˠæː ‘water’, fˠø ‘son’, he ‘husband’, hæmˠikʲi ‘lion’, lʲœ ‘road’, lˠi ‘sound’, lˠæʃˠuʃˠu ‘stick’, mʲohu ‘sea’, mˠælˠeːwʲy ‘mouse’, nˠi ‘year’, sʲœ ‘colour’, tʲu ‘girl’, tˠæwʲæbˠɑ ‘ice’, t͡ʃæpʲøːdˠy ‘rope’, ɡˠytʲeʃˠy ‘God’, ʃʲæwˠiwʲu ‘neighbour’, ʒʲau ‘stone’, ʒʲiŋˠœlˠɑ ‘embrace’, ʒʲyjuwˠæ ‘wild boar’.

Gender inanim – for instance: dʲunʲɛbˠɑ ‘neck’, fˠu ‘skin’, hizˠiːzʲu ‘dust’, kʷiʃˠibˠæ ‘fat’, kˠi ‘sky’, lˠyfˠoːkˠu ‘faeces’, mˠusˠauɡʷɑ ‘box’, mˠysʲɑdˠæ ‘liver’, pʲy ‘bone’, sʲi ‘bed’, sˠu ‘mouth’, tʲinʲɛːwʲu ‘bosom’, tʲɑt͡ʃeːmˠu ‘ash’, tˠɔi ‘hair’, t͡ʃinʲɔfˠæ ‘cheese’, wʲɑɡˠɔʒʲu ‘lake’, zʲælˠausˠi ‘knee’, ʒʲi ‘leaf’, ʒˠyzʲøŋˠu ‘brick’, ʒˠæzˠupˠi ‘bottle’.

The Nominal Phrase

Nominal phrases in Loewa can be exemplified by the following example:

[ɡʷɔdʲy ŋʷyt͡ʃɛ ŋʷøpʲɑdʲy t͡ʃæjy kˠø mˠælˠeːwʲydʲy pˠu jɑfˠi dʲi]

ɡʷɔ
woman -dʲy
def ŋʷyt͡ʃɛ
COMIT ŋʷøpʲɑ
knife -dʲy
def t͡ʃæ
yon -jy
anim kˠø
three mˠælˠeːwʲy
mouse -dʲy
def pˠu
blind jɑ
catch -fˠi
not.COMP dʲi
PAST

“The woman with the knife caught those three blind mice.”

 (1)

In the following, we shall look at the various components in more details.

There are no clitics in the nominal phrase.

The Noun

The noun in Loewa consists of the root followed by an optional suffix expressing def, comprising -dʲy ‘def’.

The Adjective

In Loewa, the adjective has the following structure: the root followed by an optional suffix expressing case, comprising -zˠy ‘ERG’, -tʲɑ ‘ACC’, -fˠy ‘GEN’, -tˠy ‘DAT’, -kʲy ‘INS’, -mˠɑ ‘VOC’, -pˠæ ‘ALL’, -hɑ ‘LOC’, -kʷɑ ‘ABL’ and -sʲi ‘PART’.

Numerals

The numeral in Loewa stands alone without any prefixes or suffixes attached to it.

Determiners

In Loewa, the determiner has the following structure: the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing gender, comprising -jy ‘anim’ and -nʲɑ ‘inanim’.

Pronouns

The pronoun in Loewa stands alone without any prefixes or suffixes attached to it.

In Loewa, subject pronouns (but not object pronouns ones) are dropped unless they are stressed. Here is an example where neither of the pronouns are stressed:

[ŋˠi ʒʲofˠi]

ŋˠi
3.anim ʒʲo
love -fˠi
not.COMP

“He (the boy) loves her (the girl).”

 (2)

But here, the word corresponding to he (i.e., the subject) is stressed:

[ŋˠi ŋˠi ʒʲofˠi]

ŋˠi
3.anim ŋˠi
3.anim ʒʲo
love -fˠi
not.COMP

“He loves her.”

 (3)

Proper Nouns

[zʲuʃˠøːjædʲy ŋʷywˠɛːʒˠudʲy tʲudʲɑfˠi]

zʲuʃˠøːjæ
Zushoeya -dʲy
def ŋʷywˠɛːʒˠu
Nagoowezhu -dʲy
def tʲudʲɑ
hate -fˠi
not.COMP

“Zushoeya hates Nagoowezhu.”

 (4)

Possession

[ʃˠydʲy fʲæzˠuɡʷɑdʲy]

ʃˠy
boy -dʲy
def fʲæzˠuɡʷɑ
apple -dʲy
def

“the boy’s apple”

 (5)

[ŋˠi fʲæzˠuɡʷɑdʲy]

ŋˠi
3.anim fʲæzˠuɡʷɑ
apple -dʲy
def

“his (the boy’s) apple”

 (6)

[kˠai fʲæzˠuɡʷɑdʲy]

kˠai
1excl fʲæzˠuɡʷɑ
apple -dʲy
def

“my apple”

 (7)

[wʲilʲynʲidʲy tʲaudʲy pʲɛ ʃʲæwˠiwʲudʲy fˠødʲy tʲisˠifˠi dʲi]

wʲilʲynʲi
hunter -dʲy
def tʲau
daughter -dʲy
def pʲɛ
2 ʃʲæwˠiwʲu
neighbour -dʲy
def fˠø
son -dʲy
def tʲisˠi
kiss -fˠi
not.COMP dʲi
PAST

“The hunter’s daughter kissed your neighbour’s son.”

 (8)

Derivation

Loewa has no derivational processes.

[mʲejy kˠɑʒʲɑːfʲu]

mʲe
a -jy
anim kˠɑʒʲɑːfʲu
lamb

“a lamb”

 (9)

Note how none show up here:

[mʲejy kˠɑʒʲɑːfʲu lˠɔ ɡʲɔdˠu dʲi kʷefˠi dʲi]

mʲe
a -jy
anim kˠɑʒʲɑːfʲu
lamb lˠɔ
little ɡʲɔ
have -dˠu
COMP dʲi
PAST kʷe
want -fˠi
not.COMP dʲi
PAST

“She wanted to have a little lamb.”

 (10)

Compounding

Verbs

Inflectional Categories

All verbal phrase clitics in Loewa are enclitics (placed finally), and there are five types: first, a clitic expressing ta, comprising dʲi ‘PAST’; second, a clitic expressing mode, comprising lʲi ‘imperative’, bʲæ ‘conditional’ and dʲu ‘optative’; third, a clitic expressing voice, comprising ɡˠy ‘passive’; fourth, a clitic expressing negation, comprising pˠy ‘NEG’; and finally, fifth, a clitic expressing question, comprising lˠy ‘Q’.

In addition, the verb is structured like this: the root followed by an obligatory suffix expressing comp, comprising -fˠi ‘not.COMP’ and -dˠu ‘COMP’.

[pʲɛ ʒʲofˠi]

pʲɛ
2 ʒʲo
love -fˠi
not.COMP

“I love you.”

 (11)

Adverbs Minor Classes

Adpositions

There is one type of clitic in the adpositional phrase, namely an enclitic (placed finally), expressing root.

[nʲœ tʲiːpˠudʲy]

nʲœ
in_surface tʲiːpˠu
table -dʲy
def

“on the table”

 (12)

[bʲɑ mˠusˠauɡʷɑdʲy]

bʲɑ
to_inside mˠusˠauɡʷɑ
box -dʲy
def

“into the box”

 (13)

[ŋʷyt͡ʃɛ kˠai]

ŋʷyt͡ʃɛ
COMIT kˠai
1excl

“with me”

 (14)

Syntax

Basic Clause Structure

Constituent Order

Constituent order describes the typical arrangement of the subject (S), verb (V) and object (O) in simple declarative clauses. It is a fundamental parameter in grammatical description and forms one of the clearest ways of characterising the overall structure of a language’s clause system.

Loewa has basic Subject–Object–Verb (SOV) word order. The subject precedes the object, and the verb appears at the end of the clause. This is one of the most frequent patterns cross-linguistically.

The following examples illustrate the basic, unmarked, constituent order in Loewa.

[ɡʲyʒˠøsʲɑdʲy wʲilʲynʲidʲy pˠifˠi dʲi]

ɡʲyʒˠøsʲɑ
jaguar -dʲy
def wʲilʲynʲi
hunter -dʲy
def pˠi
kill -fˠi
not.COMP dʲi
PAST

“The jaguar killed the hunter.”

 (15)

[hæmˠikʲidʲy wʲilʲynʲidʲy tʲaudʲy t͡ʃedʲy bˠɑfˠi dʲi]

hæmˠikʲi
lion -dʲy
def wʲilʲynʲi
hunter -dʲy
def tʲau
daughter -dʲy
def t͡ʃe
dog -dʲy
def bˠɑ
eat -fˠi
not.COMP dʲi
PAST

“The lion ate the hunter’s daughter’s dog.”

 (16)

The language has a fixed constituent order, and major phrases normally appear in a predictable position in the clause. Movement for discourse reasons is highly restricted: topics and foci are expressed not by rearranging elements, but through dedicated constructions such as clefts, focus clauses or topic–comment frames. Constituents remain continuous, and both the relative order of phrases and the internal structure of each phrase are stable. As a result, significant deviations from the basic word order are ungrammatical, and discourse structure is managed through these specialised constructions rather than through word-order variation.

Noun Phrases

Structure and Order

The internal structure of noun phrases in Loewa reveals typologically significant preferences in the ordering of nominal constituents. This includes the position of adjectives, numerals, and possessors relative to the noun, each of which can offer clues to the overall headedness of the language.

Possessive constructions are head-final: the possessor precedes the possessed noun. For example, Loewa expresses “the child’s toy” with the equivalent of “child toy”. This ordering is found in many SOV and postpositional languages and aligns with a broader tendency towards modifier-first structures.

[pʲɛ fˠødʲy dʲœdʲy kˠitˠɑːbˠidʲy]

pʲɛ
2 fˠø
son -dʲy
def dʲœ
friend -dʲy
def kˠitˠɑːbˠi
book -dʲy
def

“your son’s friend’s book”

 (17)

Case Marking

Loewa uses split case marking. In the present tense, the grammar follows a nominative–accusative pattern, where intransitive and transitive subjects are treated alike and objects are marked with the accusative. In the past tense, however, it follows an ergative–absolutive pattern, here called ergative–nominative, where intransitive subjects and transitive objects are treated alike and transitive subjects are marked with the ergative. This makes sense because present-tense clauses often describe events as ongoing, habitual or controlled by an active participant, so the grammar treats the subject as the central argument. Past-tense clauses, by contrast, often present an event as completed, making the affected participant especially salient. The ergative marking then singles out the transitive agent as the additional participant responsible for bringing about that result.

[wˠudʲy tˠaifˠi]

wˠu
cat -dʲy
def tˠai
sleep -fˠi
not.COMP

“The cat is sleeping.”

 (18)

[wˠudʲy sˠyfˠi]

wˠu
cat -dʲy
def sˠy
run -fˠi
not.COMP

“The cat is running.”

 (19)

[wˠudʲy mˠælˠeːwʲydʲy bʲiʒˠyfˠi]

wˠu
cat -dʲy
def mˠælˠeːwʲy
mouse -dʲy
def bʲiʒˠy
chase -fˠi
not.COMP

“The cat is chasing the mouse.”

 (20)

[wˠudʲy mˠælˠeːwʲydʲy jɑfˠi dʲi]

wˠu
cat -dʲy
def mˠælˠeːwʲy
mouse -dʲy
def jɑ
catch -fˠi
not.COMP dʲi
PAST

“The cat caught the mouse.”

 (21)

Conjunctions

Here is an example of a conjunction.

[wʲilʲynʲidʲy ɡʲyʒˠøsʲɑdʲy sˠɛː dʲyŋˠɔizˠydʲy sˠɛː hæmˠikʲidʲy pˠifˠi dʲi]

wʲilʲynʲi
hunter -dʲy
def ɡʲyʒˠøsʲɑ
jaguar -dʲy
def sˠɛː
and dʲyŋˠɔizˠy
tiger -dʲy
def sˠɛː
and hæmˠikʲi
lion -dʲy
def pˠi
kill -fˠi
not.COMP dʲi
PAST

“The hunter killed the jaguars, the tigers and the lions.”

 (22)

Modifiers and Determiners

The ordering of demonstratives, articles (if present), and other modifiers in Loewa provides further insight into the structure of the noun phrase. These elements frequently exhibit fixed positions and may reveal whether the language favours head-initial or head-final patterns.

Complex Sentences

Relative Clauses

Loewa forms relative clauses by placing the relative clause after the noun it modifies. The clause follows the internal word order of ordinary finite clauses. A dedicated relativising marker introduces the clause and identifies the relationship between the head noun and its role inside the relative clause.

To illustrate how relative clauses work, let us begin with a simple sentence:

[wˠudʲy pʲiʒʲaifˠi dʲi]

wˠu
cat -dʲy
def pʲiʒʲai
pat -fˠi
not.COMP dʲi
PAST

“I patted the cat.”

 (23)

We can now add a relative clause modifying the noun:

[pʲiʒʲaifˠi dʲi wˠudʲy, ɡʲo jɑfˠi dʲi mˠælˠeːwʲydʲy]

pʲiʒʲai
pat -fˠi
not.COMP dʲi
PAST wˠu
cat -dʲy,
def ɡʲo
RELPRON jɑ
catch -fˠi
not.COMP dʲi
PAST mˠælˠeːwʲy
mouse -dʲy
def

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse.”

 (24)

Relative clauses may themselves contain other relative clauses:

[pʲiʒʲaifˠi dʲi wˠudʲy, ɡʲo jɑfˠi dʲi mˠælˠeːwʲydʲy, ɡʲo bˠɑfˠi dʲi t͡ʃinʲɔfˠædʲy]

pʲiʒʲai
pat -fˠi
not.COMP dʲi
PAST wˠu
cat -dʲy,
def ɡʲo
RELPRON jɑ
catch -fˠi
not.COMP dʲi
PAST mˠælˠeːwʲy
mouse -dʲy,
def ɡʲo
RELPRON bˠɑ
eat -fˠi
not.COMP dʲi
PAST t͡ʃinʲɔfˠæ
cheese -dʲy
def

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse that ate the cheese.”

 (25)

Finally, here is an example containing several layers of embedding:

[pʲiʒʲaifˠi dʲi wˠudʲy, ɡʲo jɑfˠi dʲi mˠælˠeːwʲydʲy, ɡʲo bˠɑfˠi dʲi t͡ʃinʲɔfˠædʲy, ɡʲo wˠeːfˠi dʲi kˠai]

pʲiʒʲai
pat -fˠi
not.COMP dʲi
PAST wˠu
cat -dʲy,
def ɡʲo
RELPRON jɑ
catch -fˠi
not.COMP dʲi
PAST mˠælˠeːwʲy
mouse -dʲy,
def ɡʲo
RELPRON bˠɑ
eat -fˠi
not.COMP dʲi
PAST t͡ʃinʲɔfˠæ
cheese -dʲy,
def ɡʲo
RELPRON wˠeː
buy -fˠi
not.COMP dʲi
PAST kˠai
1excl

“I patted the cat that caught the mouse that ate the cheese that I bought.”

 (26)

Complementation Strategies

Loewa marks complement clauses with subordinating verbal morphology. The embedded verb is fully finite and carries a subordinating suffix that identifies the clause as a complement. No structural changes occur within the clause apart from this verbal marking.

The following example illustrate how complement clauses function:

[ʃˠydʲy tʲudʲy mʲenʲɑ fʲæzˠuɡʷɑ lʲɔdˠu dʲi mˠukˠæːlˠidʲy bʲæbʲæfˠi dʲi]

ʃˠy
boy -dʲy
def tʲu
girl -dʲy
def mʲe
a -nʲɑ
inanim fʲæzˠuɡʷɑ
apple lʲɔ
give -dˠu
COMP dʲi
PAST mˠukˠæːlˠi
teacher -dʲy
def bʲæbʲæ
surprise -fˠi
not.COMP dʲi
PAST

“It surprised the teacher that the boy had given the girl an apple.”

 (27)

Quotes

Loewa employs a quotative particle to mark direct and indirect speech. The quotative follows the reported phrase and identifies the preceding expression as quoted or reported. The same construction is also used to express reported thoughts.

Here is an example of how quotations are expressed:

[ʃˠydʲy tʲudʲy kˠai pʲɛ ʒʲodˠu ʃˠufˠi dʲi]

ʃˠy
boy -dʲy
def tʲu
girl -dʲy
def kˠai
1excl pʲɛ
2 ʒʲo
love -dˠu
COMP ʃˠu
tell -fˠi
not.COMP dʲi
PAST

“The boy told the girl that he loved her.”

 (28)

How to cite this grammar

Language Creator. 2026. A Grammar of Loewa. Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.91, on 25 May 2026. https://languagecreator.org/grammar/3HXA1

In BibTeX format:

@misc{LC-3HXA1,
  year         = 2026,
  author       = {{Language Creator}},
  title        = {A Grammar of {Loewa}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://languagecreator.org/grammar/3HXA1}},
  note         = {Generated by the Language Creator, version 0.91, on 25 May 2026}
}

Supplementary Materials

A collection of illustrative texts and a bilingual dictionary (English–Loewa / Loewa–English) accompany this grammar. The complete work – comprising the grammar, dictionary and texts – may also be downloaded in ODT or DOCX format.

Readers are encouraged to share observations or corrections via the feedback form. The present page may be accessed directly at:

https://languagecreator.org/grammar/3HXA1

Behind the scenes, the Language Creator stores the generated language in a JSON-based format known as ELD. The corresponding ELD file may be downloaded, edited as required, and reuploaded in order to regenerate the grammar, dictionary and texts.

To revisit the questionnaire settings used to generate this language, .

Language creation took 0.03 seconds; writing the grammar 0.07 seconds.